1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to snow skis and, more particularly, to a ski guard that covers and protects snow skis against impact and thermal shock.
2. Background Information
Snow skiing has evolved from rudimentary board sliding to a very technologically advanced recreational and professional sport. Each advancement in safety within the field nearly causes the existing equipment to become obsolete. For instance, evolution has displaced the use of wood skis with the latest in high technology composite materials. Contact surfaces utilize fiberglass composites that eliminate hot waxing providing a near frictionless sliding surface with the snow. The bottom of the skis are edged in steel for superior turning ability. The top of the skis are painted and/or laminated with graphics for consumer appeal. Even the bindings that attach to a skiers foot have improved so quickly that ski bindings over five years old are considered dangerous to the skier's safety.
Despite the current progression in the field, skis are far from disposable as each of the above improvements have accelerated the price of skis as quickly as the technology. For this reason many skiers may keep a set of skis longer the bindings. However, the longevity of the skis is directly dependant upon the care of the skis with most damage occurring during transportation and is the subject of numerous patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,017 issued to Vandagriff discloses a ski caddy having pockets for covering of the ski ends and tips. U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,104 issued to Wirth discloses a ski carrier in the form of a two piece rigid tube. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,921 issued to Becker provides a flexible bag that can cover and carry skis with the boots mounted thereon as well as the poles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,509 issued to Owen discloses a ski bag having a pleat for protecting the ski edges from touching. U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,073 issued to Jacober discloses a ski carrier for the covering and locking of bindings. U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,159 issued to Webb discloses a combination container having an individual ski compartment for placement of skis and boots. U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,416 issued to Horne discloses a two piece ski cover to encompass an individual ski including the bindings and boots fastened thereto. U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,233 issued to McKay discloses a flexible cover for each ski having a tip and tail cover and means for fastening the covers together. U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,302 issued to Kohls discloses a foldable ski cover made of flexible material designed to fold upon itself. U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,981 issued to Purple discloses a disposable one piece bag having three pockets, two of which house the skis and a third for ski poles.
All of the above prior art patents cover the skis for transportation purposes in one manner or another. The covers protect skis from salt and moisture by the use of fabric or hard covers. The benefits of a fabric cover include a low cost device that has the ability to accommodate a range of ski sizes and store in a small area when not in use, however the fabric cover provides no impact protection. Conversely, the rigid cover provides superior impact protection, but is limited in accommodating size, cannot be folded into a small storage area, and is prohibitively expensive. The ability of a hard cover to provide impact protection is extremely important as the exotic materials used in present skis have of tendency of masking damage. If a ski is damaged during shipping, the flaw is likely to arise when the skier has placed the ski in a high stress position, placing both life and limb in peril. Damage may arise from any situation where the skis are subject to adverse handling, leaving the fabric cover suitable only for shielding the skis from moisture.
The main problem with hard covers is their inability to be stored or accommodate a range of ski lengths. For example, a 220 cm downhill ski will not fit in a cover designed for 160 cm freestyle ski. Even a 5 cm difference in ski length versus ski cover may render the hard cover useless. Placement of a shorter ski within a larger cover presents a volume of space that may allow the skis to slide internally and the increased size leads to additional problems in storage.
Another problem with the prior art is a result of the skis' use in frigid temperatures while ski storage is typically indoors. The problem arises in the expansion and contraction of dissimilar materials utilized in construction of a ski i.e. metal screws to hold the bindings to a composite ski. When the ski is taken indoors, the composite materials will warm up faster than the metal edging or binding attachment screws. The result is a high stress on the joining sections that may cause premature failure.
Thus what is needed in the art is a low cost soft foldable cover that provides impact resistance of a hard cover and a means to allow for a gradual warming or cooling of the ski equipment to prevent thermal shock. While the prior art sets forth various methodologies for covering skis, no prior is known that provides, either separately or in combination, the teaching, suggestion, or incentive to make a low cost ski guard that is an aesthetically pleasing functional cover that provides the functional impact protection of a hard cover, the flexibility of a soft fabric cover, and the ability to provide thermal shock protection.